LIVERPOOL International Tennis Tournament organisers have made a last minute signing - and landed the highest ranked player in the competition.

Croatian giant Ivan Ljubicic, ranked 18 on the current ATP list and conqueror of Tim Henman at the Doha International in Qatar in May, has been snapped up to complete the round-robin part of the five day tournament which begins today.

"We're delighted to have a player of Ivan's calibre here," said tournament director Anders Borg. "His signing will complete what was already a very competitive ATP section of the tournament."

Vince Spadea, the in-form American ranked number one at the event before Ljubicic's arrival, said: "There's some great players here and some up and coming players so it's dificult to say who is going to be the best on grass, which is a very distinct surface.

"But my game's good and I'm excited. "I came to the event here two years ago and really enjoyed it and I was looking forward to coming back this year.

"It's casual yet still an intense way to prepare for Wimbledon.

"The round robin format means there's not that instant pressure to produce, even though you go out there trying to win every game."

The competing ATP players gathered at Liverpool's Radisson Hotel this morning, together with former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek and local tennis star Barry Cowan who will be featuring in exhibition matches.

Ken Skupski has been handed a wild card into the competition proper, after losing a thrilling semi-final in the qualifiying event to Bolton 20-year-old Simon Roberts.

After Skupski had grabbed the first set on a tie-break the athletic Roberts played the game of his life with a battery of sharply angled service returns and passes.

After levelling the match he overcame a two love third set deficit with a run of six consecutive games to clinch the match.